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DISCOURSE 



ON THE 



QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES OF AN HISTORIAN 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE 



GEORGIA HISTOEICAL SOCIETY, 



ON THE OCCASION OF ITS 



FOURTH ANNIVERSARY, 



Oil Moiulay, l^tli February, 1841. 



BY THE HON. MITCHELL KING. 



SAVANNAH: 

PUBLISHED BY A RESOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY 

1843. 



BuRGES &. James, Printers, 

Charleston, S. C. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



SAVANNAH, FEB. 13th, 1S43. 
Dear Sir,— I am happy in beins made the organ of the Georgia Historical Society, 
in communicating to you the following resolution, expressive of their warm and unan- 
imous admiration of the manner in which you discharged your duty as orator of the 
day. 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be tendered to the Hon. MiTCHELr, King, 
for the very able and learned address, delivered before them this day, and that a copy 
be requested of him for the use of the Society. 

With sentiments of great consideration, respect and esteem, I am, dear sir, vei-y 
truly, your obliged friend, 

I. K. TEFFT, 
Corre/fpondijig Sca'Ktary. 
Hon. Mitchell King, 

Pulaski House, f>'rivannali. 



SAVANNAH, FEB. 11th, 1R43. 
Dear Sir,— This afternoon, immediately on my return to the city, I received your 
note of yesterday, conveying the resolution of the Georgia Historical Society, on the 
subject of my address, delivered before them, and requesting a copy of it for tlie use 
of the Society. 

Present, I pray you, my very respectful acknowledgments to the Society, for the 
honor which they have done me ; and assure them, that it will give me great pleasure 
to place a copy of the address at their disposal. The manner in which it has been 
received by them, will always be to me a matter of grateful remembrance ; and I can 
only regret, that the circumstances in which I have been recently placed, did jiot per- 
mit me to give more time to it, than I have done, and to endeavor to make it more 
worthy of them, and of the occasion. 

Accept for yourself, my dear sir, my very sincere thanks, for the friendly terms in 
which you have communicated the resolution of the Society, and for the many kind- 
nesses which you have shown to me, during my visit to your enterprising and tliriving 
city. 

I am, with great consideration and respect, my dear sir, 

Your's, very truly, 

M. KING. 
I. K. Tekft, Esa., 

Corresjwnding Secretary of the Georgia Historical Society. 



A DISCOURSE 



ON THE 



QUALIFICATIONS AND DUTIES OF AN HISTORIAN. 



GENTLEMEN OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY,— 

It has been often said that the proper study of mankind is man ; 
and, certainly, as the object of every man is happiness, and this 
happiness can be best promoted, and most probably attained, by 
the culture of all the powers and qualities of his nature, to the 
highest degree of perfection of which they are capable, — and by 
providing for these powers and qualities, the best means for their 
healthful enjoyment and improvement, — and as a knowledge of 
that culture, and of those means, can only be obtained from the 
lessons of experience, — it is to him of the last importance, to re- 
cord these lessons, and to perpetuate their memory. They may 
be lessons of encouragement, or of warning. They may throw a 
broad and guiding light upon motives and actions, and show us the 
causes that, under the circumstances given, led to certain results ; 
or they may only serve "to make the darkness visible," — to con- 
vince us of our own ignorance, and that there have been princi- 
ples at work which we have been unable to detect, and which a 
more thorough investigation may discover. There are very im- 
portant periods, of which the philosophical history is probably yet 
unwritten. Events, of which the world is still feeling, and will 
continue to feel the effects, have, it is believed, been accounted for, 
on quite too narrow an induction ; and as recently found documents 
are examined, and private repositories are, from time to time, 
thrown open, and a more searching analysis is applied to our old 
sources of information, and the operation of moral causes is better 
understood, new discoveries are daily being made in the annals of 
the past, — and we see more clearly the springs by which society 
has been directed. The wider our field of inquiry, — the more 
ample our means of knowledge, and the more faithfully we avail 
ourselves of them, the less likely are we to err in our deductions, 
and we may trust to them with the greater confidence. The la- 
bors of modern scholars, — the persevering industry, the profound 



6 A DISCOURSE ON THE QUAMFICATIONS 

learning and llic wonderful sagacity of such men as Niebuhr and 
Heeren, — the discoveries of such men as Young and of Champol- 
lion,-i-have thrown a flood of light on ancient history. The in- 
vestigations of Montesquieu, of Smith, of Ricardo, and Malthus, — 
the experience of new forms of government, and of the manner 
in which they grow out of, and act on society, — furnish the philo- 
sophical inquirer of the present day, with more enlarged and accu- 
rate means of sifting and testing the truth of both ancient and mo- 
dern history, than were possessed by his predecessors. The dis- 
coveries in optics, have aided the astronomer to examine the paths 
and structure of the heavenly bodies, — to measure their distances, 
and to ascertain the immutable laws by which they arc governed. 
One science ministers to another, and an advance in one, is often 
followed by a corresponding progress in others, — and the limits of 
all are extended. May not the improvements in moral science, — 
the investigations of the economist, — the labors of the politician, — 
the united experience of ages embodied in the work of the histo- 
rian, — enable the statesman, in every successive generation, to see 
more and more deeply and accurately into the movements and 
tendencies of society, under all its diversified combinations, and to 
bring those influences to bear on it which would, in all probabili- 
ty, lead to preconcerted and determinate results. The laws of the 
physical world are altogether independent of man, and he cannot 
suspend, or create, one of them. Yet, in numberless instances, he 
can call them into action, and control them, and apply them to his 
purposes, and make them his servants, his slaves, to perform his 
will, and do his bidding ; and after the wonders which we have 
witnessed, who will pretend to set limits to the command which 
we may acquire over them. The general laws of the moral world 
are equally discoverable by man, and»are probably equally inde- 
pendent of him. But, the author of his being has endowed him 
with intelligence and reason, and a freedom of will in the exercise 
of this intelligence and reason ; and he seems to bring into the 
moral elements, a creative power which may mingle with them, 
and give him a deeper and more noble control over them, than he 
can ever exercise over irrational matter. 

The laws of the physical world known to us, have been subjec- 
ted, in a greater or less degree, to the test of experiment ; and it 
is at all times competent to the inquirer to repeat the experiment. 
But, a knowledge of the laws of the moral world, independently of 
revelation, can only be ascertained by observation. We have no 
means, so far, at least, as nations are concerned, of subjecting them 
to the test of experiment. The same precise circumstances scarce- 
ly can occur twice in the life of an individual, and much less in the 
existence of a nation ; and it requires a rigorous agreement of cir- 
cumstances, to give exact similarity to two experiments. In mo- 



AND DUTIES OF AN HISTORIAN. 7 

rals, then, our only source of knowledge is observation, and the 
experience founded on it ; and to extend that knowledge, and to 
bring it as nearly as possible to the truth and accuracy of the laws 
deducible from experiments in physics, we must collect the great- 
est possible amount of instances, with all their peculiarities, connec- 
tions and circumstances, and place them on record as a store of 
moral experiments, from which the moralist and the historian may 
deduce with accuracy, the laws which govern the moral nature of 
man. The more extensive the collection of these facts, and the 
more accurately they are authenticated, the more valuable they 
become. The wider the induction in our examinations, the more 
nearly may we hope to approach to the truth. The philosopher 
has reached to a reasonable certainty in his calculations on the 
doctrine of chances : and has laid down rules by which prudent 
and cautious men are governed in many of the important affairs 
of life. And the moralist draws rules of conduct, and the historian 
learns the principles which govern men, and the causes which di- 
rect their actions, from the results of multiplied observations. 

The most enlightened nations have erected observatoi'ies, and 
employed astronomers, to watch the motions and record the phases 
of the heavenly bodies ; and from these labors, calculations are 
made, and verified, by a deep philosophy, which assist to guide 
the mariner with unerring certainty, through the trackless ocean, 
and to minister largely to the benefit of mankind. How noble an 
undertaking is it to establish a moral observatory, and to devote 
your time and talents to watch and record the opinions and actions 
of men, and to preserve there, faithful memorials of these opinions 
and actions, for the benefit of the present age and of all posterity. 
You, Gentlemen of the Historical Society of Georgia, have with 
the greatest liberality and public spirit, established and sustained 
such an observatory. To collect the observations and facts which 
have a special reference to the history of Georgia, and to preserve 
them for posterity, is mainly the object of this society. While 
these collections are, in themselves, in a high degree useful and 
valuable, and furnish a minuteness and variety of detail, which 
could no where else be found, and may often serve the most im- 
portant purposes, they assume an additional interest when viewed 
as materials for the historian. To him they are absolutely invalu- 
able. Without such collections, either made by him, or for him, 
history could not be written ; and the man who can use them with 
ability, — who can weave their ample and diversified materials, in- 
to one condensed and harmonious and faithful and eloquent whole, 
will do honor to this society, — will illustrate his own name, and de- 
serve the lasting remembrance and gratitude of his country. 

Some have supposed that the composition of history is an easy 
task. — that there can be little difficulty in relating, in a lively and 



8 A DISCOURSE ON THE QUALIFICATIONS 

attractive style, tlie train of events, with their causes and conse- 
quences ; and that an historian, therefore, is not entitled to a very 
high rank in literature. There can scarcely be a greater naistakc. 
The very few illustrious names who have attained a high reputa- 
tion in this department, — wdio are esteemed as the teachers of 
mankind, — when we consider the numbers of distinguished men 
who have given themselves to it, and who have comparatively 
failed in it, — would alone be sufficient, without further examination, 
to show the fallacy of such an opinion. Scarcely a single nation, 
however populous, — however long the period of their existence, 
and however renowned their achievements, — can boast of many 
writers who can be ])lacedin the first rank as historians; and yet 
no part of literature has been more, nay, so sedulously cultivated. 
We shall attempt to point out some of the qualities necessary for 
the accomplished historian, and to show how arduous, how digni- 
fied, is his office. 

There is, perhaps, no word in our language, that is applied with 
greater latitude, than the term History. We have histories of 
every kind and description, — of the humblest individual, and of the 
Roman Empire, — of the atom, and of the elephant, — of the hyssop 
that springcth out of the wall, and of the cedar that is in Lebanon. 
There is no object, no opinion, of which the history may not be 
given. One common idea runs through every application of the 
term. It is that of being, so far as it goes, a true account of the 
subject, whatever that may be, of which it treats. Lord Bacon 
says, history is Natural, Civil, Ecclesiastical and Literary; and it 
is quite obvious, that these prominent divisions may be sub-divided 
to an almost indefinite extent. But with all this latitude of appli- 
cation, when vvc use the word history simply, we intend to confine 
it to an account of the actions of men, forming separate societies, 
and bearing certain relations toothers. When we speak of wri- 
ting history, or of studying history, we mean the history of a peo- 
ple, state or nation, and we need no qualification or addition to ex- 
plain our meaning. Even when thus used, the term is often applied 
to any remarkable period, or event, in the existence of a people; 
and to give an adequate idea of the purpose of the work, the term 
must be qualified by a special reference to the period, or event, 
which it undertakes to describe. It is quite obvious, that the quali- 
ties and duties required in an historian, will be in some degree af- 
fected by the object which he proposes to himself. There are 
certain determinate duties which must ever be obligatory on him, 
and of which we shall presently say something. But it is manifest- 
ly a very difierent thing for a man to write a narrative of events, 
in which, though they may mainly concern a people, he has been 
himself actively engaged, — of which he may have been magna 
pars ; or a history of events reaching far before his time, and lead- 



AND DUTIES OF AN HISTORIAN. 9 

ing, perhaps, to the circumstances by which he finds himself sur- 
rounded. 

The first duty of the man, who contemplates the arduous task of 
writing a history, would seem to be, to estimate his own strength, 
and ascertain how far he is, or can make himself, competent for 
the undertaking. To know one's self, is perhaps the most difficult 
part of human knowledge. Few, very few, have attained that 
yvu^ ((TJaulov, — Know thyseli, — which the satirist says, E creio des- 
cendit, — came down from heaven, and was inscribed in golden 
letters on the portals of the temple of Delphos. It is necessary 
for the historian, as well as the poet, to ascertain — 

quid ferre recusent, 
Gluid valeant humeri ; 

and not to take up a load which he is unable to carry. If he err 
greatly in this estimate, he may look in vain for success. 

An accurate and comprehensive acquaintance with the events of 
the times of which he undertakes to write, and with the characters 
of the men who acted in them, is indispensable to the historian. 
No pains can be too great, no research too persevering, to acquire 
this information. Without it, correct history cannot be written. 
It must be sought in every quarter in which it can be obtained ; 
in the public archives of a people, — in the repositories of individu- 
als, — in the ephemeral, in the enduring, literature of the day, — in 
the private letters, — in the monuments of the age. Herodotus 
visited himself the places which he describes; and examined the 
records of the people of whom he writes, whenever they were 
accessible to him ; and when he relates any thing which he had not 
himself seen, or learned, from what he considered sufficient au- 
thority, he generally qualifies his narrative with an "it is said," or 
"they say," and leaves the reader to form his own conclusion. 
Thucydides lived, we know, in the midst of the interesting events 
which he so admirably commemorates — mingled largely in them — 
heard, perhaps, the very speeches which he puts in the mouths of 
Pericles, and of others of his contemporaries ; and possessed am- 
ple means, — of which he has well availed himself, — for obtaining 
the information which he required. Polybius travelled through 
Gaul and Spain, — followed Scipio into Africa, — was present with 
him at the taking of Carthage, — by his assistance had access to all 
the archives of Rome; and was indefatigable in collecting mate- 
rials for the composition of that history, which, mutilated as it is, 
deserves to be more read and studied. Examples similar to these 
might be accumulated almost without end ; but these may serve to 
show the care and industry required, in collecting the information 
necessary for the historian. On the extent and accuracy of his 
researches, — on the faithfulness with which they are made, and 
2 



10 A DISCOURSE ON THE QUALIFICATIONS 

with which the materials that they furnish are used, — the value 
and character of his work will mainly depend. 

It is not merely to the collection of facts, that the future histo- 
rian must devote his attention. He must study the prevailinsj 
opinions on every important department of pursuit, or speculation, 
in the period of which he intends to write. The conduct of 
masses of men, is ever influenced and directed by tiie sentiments 
of the age in which they live ; and it is the duty of the historian 
to catch the spirit of the age, — to embody it in the men who were 
animated by it, — to make it live again in them, and show how it 
determined their speech and actions. He will transport the read- 
er to the scenes described, and by exciting the sympathies of .our 
common nature, interest him with something of the feelings of an 
actor in those scenes. Let it not be supposed, that to accomplish 
this object he must secure our approbation of the opinions of the 
period. He must examine those opinions, and test them by the 
principles of truth and virtue, and all the results of wisdom, which 
time and experience have produced, and pass judgment on them 
according to their merit and demerit. This opens a wide field for 
his labors. The iiabits and manners, and morals of a people, — 
the pursuits prevailing among them, whether pastoral, agricultur- 
al, manufacturing or commercial, — their literature, and above all, 
their religion and laws, — ought all to be carefully studied and well 
understood, before he enters on his task, or he will be like one who 
presumes to practice a profession before he has learned its first 
principles. 

It is not alone necessary for the historian to understand tho- 
roughly all that properly belongs to a people in their collective 
capacity; he must study the characters of their leading men, and 
the influence which they arc calculated to exercise, and do exer- 
cise, over their contemporaries. Few minds are greatly in ad- 
vance of their age, but the leading, the authoritative minds of an 
age, conduct its affairs, and form its history, — give it a direction 
and tendency for futurity, and continue to operate on society for 
centuries after they have passed away. Who yet has ventured 
to estimate the influence, under God, of the Apostle Paul, on the 
progress of Christianity, — upon the whole human family? Who 
yet has faithfully and impartially endeavored to determine the ef- 
fect of the passions and character of Henry VIII., on the spread 
and establishment of the doctrines of the Reformation? The calm 
dignity of Washington, — his unwavering courage, — his unshaken 
firmness, — his inflexible perseverance, — his unfailing self-posses- 
sion, — his equanimity, — his unsullied integrity, — his deep love of 
liberty and justice, — his unrivalled practical wisdom, — all seem to 
have been blended and sent by Providence for the very occasion, 
in which their combination, in that illustrious man, was to produce 



AND DUTIES OF AN HISTORIAN. II 

ihe most important results ; and who has weighed, or can now 
weigh, the influence which they have exercised on the present 
condition of the country, and which they may exercise on our 
future destiny ; nay, not of our country only, — on the condition 
and destiny of civilized man. Had our experiment failed, — had 
the might of England been able to crush and subdue the spirit 
of Liberty, through these now United States, — who can say what 
would have been the present situation of Christendom : and all 
our advances in political philosophy, — all the wisdom which expe- 
rience has learned from the past, may not yet enable us to say 
how far Washington was, or was not, necessary to our success. 

The historian must study and try to understand such men. 
Every great mind appearing on the earth, is an immediate emana- 
tion of the Deity, the divine source of all excellence. That mind 
possesses powers peculiar to itself, which, as heaven gave them, 
may be called its own : and though it be disciplined and controlled 
by the character of its age, it enters with all its own original en- 
ergies, as a new cause, into the constitution of society, — leaves 
its impress on all that comes in contact with it,— modifies and con- 
trols, to the extent of its influence, the opinions and conduct of 
men, — and becomes an additional motive, an additional element, ia 
the never-ending, still-beginning chain of human events. 

Geography and chronology have been called the eyes of histo- 
ry: an accurate knowledge of them is indispensable to the histo- 
rian. The geography of a country necessarily forms part of its 
history. The habits of industry, or occupations of a people, wn'U 
be more or less affected by their geographical situation. If they 
be distant from the ocean, or have little connection with it, then 
their pursuits will be adapted to that condition. It they have a 
maritime position, they will probably find in trade the sources of 
their wealth. If wars are to be described, the movements of con- 
tending armies cannot be explained without an accurate know- 
ledge of the face of the country. Every town that may be be- 
sieged, — nay, every village in the line of operations, has its own 
peculiarities of situation ; and the late of a battle, or of a skirmish 
that may determine a battle, may depend on the position of an 
eminence, or stream, or valley; and the result of the most skilful 
manoiuvres cannot be properly understood, without a thorough 
acquaintance with all the localities. 

To fix the precise dates of interesting events, has, from their 
great extent and amplification, become almost a science by itself, 
and requires the utmost care and research. It is obviously of higii 
importance. Indeed, without a strict observance of its rules, there 
can be no history, properly so called, — that is, a record of events 
m their natural order, as the one followed or grew out of the oth- 
er ; and to depart in the least from that precedence and sequence. 



12 A DISCOURSE ON THE QUALIFICATIONS 

would be absolutely to invert the order of things : and, therefore, 
a perfect command' over this branch of knowledge, is the more 
necessary for the historian. 

It would require a long and elaborate disquisition to discuss as 
it deserves, if the speaker could so discuss, the style in which his- 
tory should be written. In this, too, example and experience are 
the best teachers. Every distinguished historian — and the number 
is exceedingly limited — of ancient and modern times, has his own 
peculiar style ; and instances without end, of the highest excel- 
lence, might be selected from their works. To the future histo- 
rian we would say, study these great masters. Nocturna versate 
manu, versate diurna. Imitate their beauties and avoid their 
faults. To a good taste, both generally are equally obvious. With- 
out good taste, who would venture to write history. Here, al- 
most every species of style that deserves cultivation, may find its 
appropriate place. The eloquence of the orator, — the imagina- 
tion of the poet, — the gravity of the statesman, — the profundity of 
the philosopher, — may be blended in the happiest harmony. 

With his mind filled with materials thus widely and faithfully 
collected, and with a style dignified and pure, eloquent and varied, 
the iiistorian must bring to his task a love of truth, a devotion to 
it, which no fear can shake, no predilection warp, no favor bribe. 
He stands a witness before God, to his contemporaries and to pos- 
terity, to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth. He constitutes himself a judge of the opinions and mo- 
tives and actions of men, and of society ; and wo to him who 
carelessly or intentionally gives an unrighteous judgment. He 
must remember, Primam esse Historiie legem, ne quid falsi dicere 
audeat, ne quid veri non audeat, ne quid suspicio gratia^ sit in 
scribendo, ne quid simultatis. Nothing can absolve him from the 
observance of this rule ; and if he cannot or will not conform to it, 
let him lay down his pen and abandon the undertaking. He is 
unworthy of the office which he has assumed. 

But he must know the precise import of the rule, and the ex- 
tent to which it is applicable. Though he must dare to say all 
that is true, and nothing that is untrue, and to say it without fear 
or favor or enmity, he is not bound to record, — nay, he would de- 
grade the dignity of his ollice, to record every petty event or 
slander of the times. The rule clearly applies only to the events 
that deserve to be commemorated, for the information and instruc- 
tion of mankind ; to events that have an abiding effect on the con- 
dition of a country ; and to their causes and consequences. He 
must carefully and impartially scrutinize the motives and circum- 
stances in which the events originated. No important action in 
them must be too high, or too low, for his examination. The 
Prince who has swayed his sceptre with the greatest power and 



AND DUTIES OF AN HISTORIAN. 13 

glory, and the meanest of his subjects ; the President who sits in 
the chair of state, and says to the congregated sages of a nation, 
you have overstepped the limits of your authority, — hitherto shall 
ye come, but no further ; — and the humblest citizen, who drives his 
own wagon to a market ; are equally amenable at the bar of his- 
torical justice. Whatever in the character or conduct of any man, 
affects an event that deserves to be recorded, ought to enter into 
the narrative, and to be allowed its due proportion of efficiency ; 
and to be stamped with the mark of approbation or disapproba- 
tion, according to its deserts. It would not be proper on every 
occasion to deliver an ethical lecture, or to sit in judgment on 
comparative trifles. There should be a general moral tone per- 
vading the work, which is felt and enjoyed without being osten- 
tatiously displayed. The physical frame is braced and invigorated 
by a healthy atmosphere, to which we scarcely give our attention; 
and our moral nature may be purified and exalted by the spirit of 
wisdom and virtue, with which a writer may inspire his narrative, 
and which may exercise an influence over the mind, of which the 
reader is unconscious. History has been defined to be Philosophy 
teaching by example; and though this definition will give little 
information on the subject, it is unquestionably true that the prin- 
ciples of virtue are best taught by example. Indeed, all virtue 
which is not derived directly from Revelation, is founded on expe- 
rience. Principles are illustrated and understood, by being brought 
into action. A fact, an event in history, produced by the opera- 
tion of ascertained principles, whether of good or of evil, best 
shows the nature and efficiency and consequences of these prin- 
ciples, — the good or the evil, — the right or the wrong, which they 
produce ; and teaches us which we should approve and adopt, 
and which we should condemn and avoid. An experiment in na- 
tural philosophy, performed under the eye, and subjected to the 
close inspection of the experimenter, does more to elucidate and 
prove a principle of science, than mere description or theory can 
ever accomplish. A lesson of patience, of fortitude, of benevo- 
lence, of charity, of any virtue taught by an example, dwells 
longer in the memory, and makes a deeper impression on the 
heart, than the most eloquent reasoning, or the most logical defin- 
ition. By the one, all our better sympathies are roused and exci- 
ted; through them the intellect is persuaded and convinced, and 
we are led to approve and imitate. By the other, the reason may 
be convinced, the intellect may be satisfied, but how cold are the 
convictions of reason, and the conclusions of the intellect, when 
compared with the energies of sympathy, and the affections of 
the heart. Every example presents a picture to the mental eye, — 
calls the actors before us, — brings the imagination to heighten 
the effect, — so that we may be almost said to see the scene pass- 



14 A DISCOURSE ON THE QUALIFICATIONS 

ing before us, and to participate in it. We realize in some degree 
the maxim of the poet : 

Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem 
Q.uam quae sunt oculis subjecta fidelibus, et quce 
Ipse sibi tradit spectator. 

How cold and inefficient and lifeless is precept, to the urgency 
and force of example. 

It is not enough that the historian be a devoted adherent to 
truth, — he must be as far as possible free from all undue prejudi- 
ces. Machiavelli has said, the historian ought to be of no religion 
and of no country- This can only mean, that his mind ought not 
to be so narrowed by his own religious creed, as either to be una- 
ble to judge fairly and impartially of the religious opinions of oth- 
ers, or to induce him to view their conduct through a medium co- 
lored or obscured by his own peculiar vision ; and that, though an 
historian may love his country with filial affection, he must neither 
be blind to its faults, nor palliate or conceal them ; he must speak 
of them as they are, without extenuation, and without exaggera- 
tion. Religion occupies so much of the thoughts of men, and has 
in all ages exercised so high a control over ihern, that it must of 
necessity command the deep attention of the historian. So far as 
it teaches the doctrines of a particular creed, and the relations 
which men hold to their Maker, the subject properly belongs to 
the ecclesiastical, and not to the civil historian, whose duties chief- 
ly we are now considering. He would probably depart from his 
own task, and scarcely serve any valuable purpose, by discussing 
questions of polemical divinity. But when these topics are in- 
volved in, or act on, the civil condition of the State, it will be his 
duty to deal with them; and when he does handle them, he will 
probably find it best to adopt the spirit of Machiavelli's rule, and 
to treat them with unwavering impartiality, as he would a ques- 
tion of abstract science. The moral code of religion falls m.ore 
properly within his province ; and if we can suppose any religion 
so debased as to inculcate or sanction vicious principles, — princi- 
ples which tend to corrupt or injure society, — it will be his duty 
to expose and denounce it. Happily, the sublimest of all reli- 
gions, that which, the more thoroughly and impartially it is exam- 
ined, fills every unprejudiced mind with deeper and deeper con- 
victions of its truth and divine origin, is in nothing more pre-emi- 
nent than in its moral code, which, even the sceptic will admit, 
could our frail nature obey it perfectly, might make this earth a 
paradise, and is fitted to govern the angels in heaven. 

The writer who has adopted a particular theory, or has a spe- 
cial object in view, makes every tiling bend to defend that theory, 
or to promote that object. He brings into prominent notice, — he 
presses whatever makes for it, — he modifies, softens or omits, 



AND DUTIES OF AN HISTORIAN. 15 

whatever makes against it. He may not state any thing that is 
absolutely untrue, and yet his omissions, or colorings, or manner 
of statement, may bring the mind of the reader who relies on 
his representations, to the same conclusions, as if he had stated 
what is untrue. It is not enough to state the truth. It must be, 
as we have said, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. There 
must be no qimlification, no softening, no concealment of facts 
that weaken the theory, no exaggeration of facts favorable to it, 
and still less the invention of facts to sustain it. Nay, a due re- 
gard to truth forbids the historian to imagine or invent reasons for 
a particular action, or course of conduct, which he knows did not 
exist in the minds of the actors, and therefore did not in the slight- 
est degree influence them. This limitation will not prevent him 
from reasoning on the facts, or from showing the grounds on which 
they may be explained or defended ; but it Vi^ill prevent him from 
attributing these reasons, or assigning these grounds, to the actors 
to whom they did not occur, and who are not entitled to the credit, 
or it may be the discredit, of being governed by them. 

Hume is an illustrious instance of the effect of prejudice on even 
a calm and philosophic mind. All his partialities were in favor of 
the exiled house of Stewart. He believed that they had been un- 
justly driven from the throne of England. He had no sympathy 
for the Puritans, whom the}' had cruelly oppressed; and very lit- 
tle for the Protestant Episcopal Church, which one of them had 
endangered. To the clergy, as a body, he was not friendly. They 
were the support of principles which he opposed, and labored to 
undermine. The effects of these sentiments may be traced in al- 
most every page of his history; certainly, in every passage of it 
where they would be likely to color his opinion or bias his judg- 
ment. It is an elaborate, able and eloquent defence of the unfor- 
tunate family to which he was attached. Of every monarch of it 
who comes within the scope of his work, he is the ingenious apol- 
ogist. The miserable imbecilities, the low habits, the reckless 
extravagance of the first James, — the most learned fool, perhaps, 
of his day, in Christendom, — are touched with the lightest hand ; 
while every quality which could deserve the least praise, is care- 
fully developed. His exercise of his royal prerogative, — feebler 
generally than the stern despotism of the house of Tudor, — is 
advantageously contrasted with it. The maxim which forms the 
greater part of his king-craft, as he chose to term it, — Qui nescit 
similare, nescit regnare, — borrowed, as it probably was, from the 
cold-blooded tyrant, Louis XL, and in which he followed the 
Emperor Sigismund, the faithless violator, in the person of John 
Huss, of the Imperial safe-conduct, receives not the slightest 
mark of disapprobation from the courtly philosopher ; while the 
darker crimes of which James is tearfully suspected, are not even 



16 A DISCOURSE ON THE QUALIFICATIONS 

whispered. The same spirit prevails in the history of the first 
and second Charles, and the last James, Wherever, on the con- 
trary, the Puritans appear, the whole scene is changed. They 
are presented through a very different medium. The philosophi- 
cal telescope is inverted. Their faults are magnified, and their 
virtues undervalued, or treated as vices. Their religion is hypo- 
crisy or fanaticism. Their love of liberty is turbulence and re- 
bellion against lawfid authority. A cool and keen irony, all the 
more insinuating because it assumes the guise of candor and im- 
partiality, breathes in every sentence, and often, it is to be feared, 
has won favor and acceptance, when it distorts, conceals, or mis- 
represents the truth. The clergy, as a body, are scarcely better 
treated, though individuals among them are mentioned with much 
consideration. 

The prejudices which affected the historian of the house of 
Stewart, extend to his whole history. It will be remembered, that 
he wrote that history backward ; that is, he reversed the order of 
time, and arose upwards to the beginning, — the latest part first. 
In addition, therefore, to his original predilections and tendencies, 
in writing the earlier part of his history, he had the further ob- 
ject, — it may almost be said the necessity, — to make it correspond 
to the later. The theory and the practice of the English consti- 
tution, under the Plantagenets and the Tudors, were to be the de- 
fence, the justification of the Stewarts. Can a work written under 
these influences, however able and eloquent, however judicious in 
its arrangements, clear in its narrative, discriminating in its inves- 
tigation of moral causes, or profound in its philosophy, be entitled 
to the highest praise, or to be safely followed as a guide or model ? 
It may, perhaps, be said of Hume, in somewhat of the same strain 
in which he has spoken of Milton, that had his mind been free 
from prejudice, — had he been wholly unbiassed by predilections 
for the house of Stewart, — had he held the balance even between 
law and liberty, and leaned neither to despotism nor disorder, — 
had he viewed religion in all its adherents, of every denomination, 
with the same impartiality with which he has examined the prin- 
ciples of philosophy, he might have risen to the highest pinnacle 
of intellectual excellence which seems attainable by man, and borne 
away the palm as an unrivalled historian. 

The great work of Gibbon is liable to similar objections. His 
eye cannot bear the light of Christianity. Objects seen through 
it change to him their appearance, and become distorted and illu- 
sory. He never examines it with the spirit, either of the unbi- 
assed sceptic, desirous of discovering the truth, or of the impartial 
historian. He has a creed of his own, founded probably on the 
evidence by which he tried the doctrine of the real presence in 
the Eucharist ; on the principle that he could only believe in what 



AND DUTIES OF AN HISTORIAN. 17 

he could see, hear, smell, taste or touch, or in what could be 
brought to the test of some one or other of these senses ; or of 
truths fairly deducible from the impressions or ideas he derived 
from them. By this creed he tried Christianity, with the ingenui- 
ty of an advocate, and the bias of a partisan. No one is willing 
to think, or to find himself wrong. The pride of opinion has a 
wonderful effect in determining the judgment. If Christianity be 
true. Gibbon was wrong, and the reputation of the historian was 
pledged to show that he was right. Calm, impartial reason, apart 
from the influences of religion, may be left to say how far such 
parts of Gibbon as state the doctrines and relate the history of 
Christianity and its disciples, are entitled to confidence. The ex- 
ample of such men as Hume and Gibbon, may do more than could 
be done by the most labored disquisition, to show the importance 
of impartiality to the historian. 

No undertaking is more delicate and difficult, and few can be 
more important, than to trace the causes which have led to remark- 
able events. This will task all the patience and research, and in- 
genuity and knowledge and wisdom of the historian, and demands 
the highest qualities. But when well executed, it is far the most 
valuable part of his labors. The whole chain of human events, 
like all the operations of nature, is a series of causes and effects. 
What is now, is the product of what was yesterday ; and without 
the introduction of new elements, would produce what will be to- 
morrow ; and so on to the end of time. It has been beautifully 
and truly said, that the child is father of the man ; and it is no less 
true, that one age is father of another. The habits, the pursuits, 
the opinions, the motives, of the parents, are transmitted to their 
children to the third and fourth generation ; ay, for many genera- 
tions. The profound historian will enter into the investigation of 
this antecedence and consequence with the most searching analy- 
sis. He will endeavor to discover, as far as human sagacity can 
discover, the links that bind them together. He will inquire into 
the causes which combine to produce any important result. He 
will separate the true causes from those which only appear to be 
such ; and he will assign to each its relative weight and efficiency 
in effecting that result ; and he will take the result itself, — the event 
which he has chronicled, — and show how it operates as a new 
cause on the future. This is the prime, — the crowning glory of 
history. This makes it the vantage-ground of moral science, — 
the school of the statesman and the philosopher. He who has 
rightly spelled the lessons of this school, — who has mastered the 
truths which it unfolds and the wisdom which it teaches, has fitted 
himself to be an instructor and leader of mankind. Of such men, 
"the old experience does attain to something like prophetic strain." 
They know the past, and by the light of that knowledge, they look 
3 



18 A DISCOURSE ON THE QUALIFICATIONS 

into futurity. Such were many of the distinguished men of an- 
tiquity, — such were the Oxenstierns, the Ximenes, the Richelieus, 
the Burghleys, the Chathams, the Burkes, of modern Europe. 
Such were the men who conducted our country through the war 
of the Revolution, and when they had battled monarchy from the 
land, — framed a constitution, not on any imaginative theory of 
perfcctability, but on the solid foundation of well-tried experience; 
which, considered in all its parts, — in its wonderful adaptation to 
the people for whom it was formed, — in the triumphant success 
with which it has accomplished all the objects for which it was or- 
dained, — stands, and we most fervently pray, may ever stand, the 
noblest monument of human wisdom and virtue. 

Nothing is better calculated to throw light on the history of a 
nation, than a careful examination and a just estimate of their 
laws. It is a part of history which probably never yet has re- 
ceived the attention to which it is entitled. Mankind have been 
too much dazzled and attracted by the pride and pomp and cir- 
cumstance of war, and by the intrigues and cabals, and the strug- 
gles for place and power of the politician, to watch the progress 
of law and its effects on society. In the biography of an indivi- 
dual, care is taken to trace the progress of his education and the 
development of his intellect. In writing the history of a nation, 
the most important laws often pass wholly unnoticed ; and yet 
these very laws arc the recorded opinions and judgments of the 
people, and give more insight into their moral and intellectual con- 
dition, than any other source of information. Indeed, they are 
the very best proof of the national character. They are the de- 
liberate judgments governing the occasional will of the people. 
Emanating as they do in every free country, from the majority, 
and in all countries resting ultimately on public opinion, and obli- 
gatory on all, they speak the sentiments of the people, and are 
scarcelv susceptible of misrepresentation or mistake. They grow 
out of the necessities of the society, and must be adapted to it, or 
they could not be enacted or continued. They embody too, for 
the most part, some prominent judgment, which becomes a rule of 
conduct and reacts in a greater or less degree on the law-givers. 
While it remains a mere opinion, it may be overlooked, or con- 
demned by many. When it passes into a law, its observance cea- 
ses to be discretionary. It enters as a new cause into the affairs 
of life, and affects and modifies them according to its importance 
and efficiency. Who has yet attempted to estimate the effects 
produced, and likely to be produced, throughout this imperial Re- 
public, by the abolition of the rights of primogeniture, and by the 
introduction generally of universal suffrage. Will it not require 
the wide spread of a good education, and a high morality, to main- 
tain these institutions. 



AND DUTIES OF AN HISTORIAN. 19 

The resources of a country, — the extent and fertility of its ter- 
ritory, — its agricultural products, — its trade and commerce, inter- 
nal and external, — the numbers of its population, — the forces which 
it can raise and maintain, — will all claim and repay the exaniina- 
tion of the historian. On them mainly, will depend its rank 
among nations, — the nature of its domestic and foreign relations, 
and the influence which it can exercise on its neighbors. 

The literature of every country forms an important part of its 
history. Every writer, in a greater or less degree, reflects the 
form and pressure of the age in which he lives, and embodies its 
spirit ; and to catch this spirit, and to be able, so far as may be 
desirable, to transfer it to his pages, is requisite for the historian. 
Very often, fugitive productions throw great light on passing 
events. "Killing no murder," showed the sentiments towards 
Cromwell then entertained by many of the English people ; and 
the ribald song, Lilliburlero, "made an impression (says Burnet) 
on the king's army, which cannot be imagined by those who saw 
it not." By infecting their minds with contempt and dislike to- 
wards the existing government, it probably aided the arms and 
policy of Nassau in driving James II. from the throne. Who 
can now say what might have been the consequences, had the ar- 
my remained true to the head of the house of Stuart. 

The great authors of a country are its pride and glory ; and the 
achievements of its poets and philosophers deserve as well to be 
commemorated, as those of its warriors and statesmen. Homer 
and Plato, and Aristotle and Demosthenes, and the host of their 
illustrious compeers in literature and philosophy, have done more 
to raise and spread and sustain the reputation of Greece, than all 
the military leaders that she ever produced ; and they certainly 
have done much more to promote the well-being of mankind. We 
take now as deep an interest in Virgil and Horace and Livy and 
Tacitus and Cicero, as we do in the Fabii, the »Scipios and the 
Caesars of ancient Rome : though the first that dignified that proud 
name Caesar, — a name that for nearly two thousand years has 
been borne by successive monarchs, — claims our remembrance 
both as a writer and a conqueror. To him we owe the first ac- 
count of the country from which we spring, and no man perhaps 
has better deserved to be remembered among those of whom the 
younger Pliny thus writes to his friend Tacitus: Equidem Beatos 
puto, quibus deorum munere datum est aut facere scribenda. aut 
scribere legenda : beatissimos vero quibus utrumque.* England 
is as much indebted to her Bacon and Newton and Locke and 
Milton and Shakspeare, as to her Henrys and Edwards and Marl- 

* Happy, indeed, do I think them who, by the favor of heaven, either do what 
deserves to be written, or write what deserves to be read ; most happy are they 
who do both. 



20 A DISCOURSE ON TIIE QUALIFICATIONS 

boroughs and Wellingtons, her Burghleys and Chathams, for the 
distinguished rank which she holds among the nations ; and France 
may well be as proud of I)e Thou and Corneille and Racine and 
Bossuet and Fenelon, as of Bayard and Conde and Turenne and 
Ney and Napoleon, Edwards and Franklin and Marshall, and 
other distinguished men now no more, who have ornamented our 
literature ; and our authors and men of science, who are yet 
among us, and have raised and adorned the genius of our country, 
and some of whom arc daily adding fresh wreaths to their lau- 
rels, — will each find his appropriate place, with his due meed of 
praise, in the pages of history. 

Justice, the spirit of the age, requires that no man who has 
conferred a lasting benefit on his fellow men should be suffered 
to be forgotten ; and much less those who by any remarkable in- 
vention, or fortunate discovery, have added largely to the means 
of comfort and improvement. Watt and Arkwright and Davy, 
will vindicate for themselves their places in English story : and 
we claim an equal right to distinction for our public benefactors: 
for Fulton, who first applied the power of steam successfully to 
navigation, and by that application led the way to its introduction 
as a locomotive power, which is bringing the ends of the earth 
together, and making the antipodes next door neighbors ; for one 
who has never yet received the honor to which he is entitled. 
Whitney, the inventor of the cotton-gin, an instrument of humble 
pretensions but of immense utility, which has done more to enrich 
these southern cotton-growing States, and to advance their pros- 
perity, than any other recent discovery. It would not be beneath 
the dignity of history, to inquire whether Godfrey or Hadley has 
the better right to be considered the inventor of the invaluable 
quadrant, which is now as necessary to the mariner and to the 
commerce of the world, as the compass itse'f 

Neither must the state and progress of the arts and sciences pass 
without their due notice. They will occupy an appropriate, but 
it is submitted, a subordinate place. They ought to be no further 
prominent, than as they belong to the nation, and are exponents of 
its character, A more full account of them must be sought in 
works devoted to that special purpose. It would be out of place 
to give disquisitions on grace and beauty and conception, on pain- 
ting, architecture, statuary or music, in a iiistory of the affairs and 
actions of men. It has been sometimes supposed, that the culti- 
vation of these arts and a devotion to them, is the best evidence 
of the elegance and elevation of society, and great efforts have 
been made to encourage them, and to create a taste for them. 
Undoubtedly, they well deserve every encouragement, and the 
successful cultivation of them reflects honor on a people. But 
they must not assume a rank to which they are not entitled. Char- 



AND DUTIES OF AN HISTORIAN. 21 

acter, virtue, goodness, ought above all things else to be dearest 
to a people, and to claim their first, their deepest, their last devo- 
tion. No delicacy of taste, no depth of science, no power of in- 
tellect, no range of genius, can supply their place. A sacred re- 
gard to pledged faith, — a love of truth and justice, — a determina- 
tion neither to deserve nor to brook reproach, — a profound, unob- 
trusive and abiding reverence for all things pure and holy, — to 
fear God and know no other fear, — these constitute the prime 
dignity and glory of a country. Where these are, nothing will 
be found wanting. Every thing else really desirable will accom- 
pany them, or follow in their train. Where they are not, no 
refinement of taste, — no trophies of art, — no triumphs of intellect, 
can sustain the happiness and independence of a country. When 
the corruptions of Athens had reached their height, and the vio- 
lence of her fierce democracy had banished or destroyed all her 
great men, and public worth ceased to direct her public councils, 
all her matchless monuments of art, — all the splendor of her liter- 
ature, — all the subtlety and charms of her philosophy, could not 
save her from becoming the slave, first of Macedon, and then of 
the stern virtue of Rome. In Rome herself, while in the zenith of 
her greatness, the fine arts never became naturalized. Her heroic 
poet, who was as much a philosopher as a poet, and like a true 
patriot omitted, in his favorite work, no opportunity to praise and 
encourage his countrymen, and at the same time to point out to 
them their true glory, — tells them, 

Excudent alii spirantia mollius cera 
Credo equidem : vivos ducent de marmore vultus ; 
Orabimt causas melius, ca?lique meatus 
Describent radio, et surgentia sidera dicent. 
Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento : 
Hffi tibi erunt artes, pacisque imponere morem. 
Parcere subjectis, et debellare superbos.* 

After Rome, by the exercise of that very virtue which is still 

qualified as Roman, had risen to the highest pitch of greatness 

and grandeur, and had collected around her the most splendid 

achievements of science and art; when that virtue ceased to direct 

and govern her, and as her indignant satirist says: 

Savior armis 
Luxuria incubuit, victumque ulciscitur orbem.t 

* Others with softer hand may mould the brass, 
Or wake to warmer life the marble mass, — 
Plead at the bar with more prevailing force, 
Or trace more justly heaven's revolving course; 
Roman, be thine the sovereign arts of sway. 
Nobly to rule, and make the world obey, — 
Give peace its laws, respect the prostrate foe, 
Abase the lofty, and exalt the low. [Synmio7is. 

t And luxury, more terrible than war, 
Avenges Twtv on Rorne, a vanquish'd world. 



22 A DISCOURSE ON THE QUALIFICATIONS 

After passing through the fearful atrocities of conflicting revolu- 
tions and sanguinary proscriptions, she sunk under the domination 
of the vilest tyrants — her Tiberius and Caligula and Nero — thai 
ever degraded and disgraced humanity. On the revival of letters, 
after the long night of the middle ages, while modern Rome, yet 
sunk in the grossest immorality, was at one time the prey of the 
fiery Frank, and at another of her own unprincipled population ; 
in the age of the Borgias and the Aretinos, the fine arts sprang 
again into life, and Italy, degraded, unhappy Italy, became their 
native soil. These are truths which the historian should never 
forget ; and it is his highest, his most solemn obligation, to brand 
every breach of public faith, — every dereliction of public duty, — 
every stain thrown on the public integrity and honor, — with the 
deepest reprobation. On that faith and duty and integrity and 
honor, the peace, the liberty, the happiness of a country depend ; 
and that people will assuredly rise to the highest pinnacle of pros- 
perity and greatness and glory, by whom they are most sacredly 
revered, and preserved inviolate. 

If this fail, 
The pillar'd firmament is rottenness, 
And earth's base built on stubble. 

The more we reflect on the duties of the historian, and on the 
attainments and qualities required to fit him for his task, the higher 
will be the estimate which we shall form of the rank to which he 
is entitled in the scale of literary distinction. If that rank is to be 
determined in anv degree by the utility and difiiculty of his labors, 
it may be doi:ibted whether he is not entitled to hold the very first 
place. He ought, if possible, to combine the eloquence of the 
orator with the wisdom of the sage, — the learning of the scholar 
with the experience of the statesman, — the inspiration of the poet 
with the impartiality of the judge, — the ardor of the enthusiast 
with the calmness of the philosopher. It may well be asked, when 
have these attainments and qualities ever been united, and it may 
be beyond all probability ever to find them united, in one man. But 
the ardent mind, that knows its own wants, will make constant 
cflbrts to supply them. The man who aspires to the honor of be- 
ing an historian, must have a high aim. He will picture to him- 
self an idea of perfection, and he will strive to realize and embody 
that idea. Who shall say how near the genius of our country may 
reach to this perfection. Assuredly, the man who approaches the 
nearest to the realization of this idea, will cover his brows with 
unfading laurels, and place his name upon a level with the greatest 
that adorns the page of history. 

The Georgia Historical Society are embodied, as your constitu- 
tion shows, "to collect, preserve and difiuse information relating 
to the history of the State of Georgia, in all its various depart- 



AND DUTIES OF AN HISTORIAN. 23 

ments, and of American history generally." It is, Gentlemen 
of the Society, your special aim to perpetuate the memory of the 
rise and progress of your State, — of the influences of all kinds, 
internal and external, to which she has been subjected, — the trials 
which she has endured, — her actions in peace and in war, as a 
colony, as an independent State, as a member of this great con- 
federacy, — the education, in tine, through which she has passed, 
from her first feeble beginning to her present high and palmy con- 
dition. Can there be a more useful, or more honorable underta- 
king. How many valuable documents are already preserved in 
your archives, which, had it not been for your exertions and care, 
might already, must soon, have been irrecoverably lost. How 
many facts may now be traced to their causes, which, without 
your aid, would be inscrutable. You have treasured up a rich 
store for the historian, from which he may learn and show the ori- 
gin, advance and prospects of the country. You have laid the 
foundation and collected the materials ; he must rear the super- 
structure in all its fair proportions. You have placed before him 
the rough-hewn marble ; he must model and mould it into symme- 
try and beauty. You have provided all the elements for a great 
creation ; he must put them together in their natural order, fashion 
them into one noble work, and breathe into it a vivifying and im- 
mortal spirit. The historian who, from the fruits of your liberali- 
ty and care and public spirit, and the efforts of his own industry 
and genius, shall raise an enduring monument to his own and his 
country's honor, will inscribe on that monument the lasting grati- 
tude due to your Society. 



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